Saturday, 7 January 2017

A senior Iranian official has
welcomed Turkey’s decision to pull out its forces from Iraq and respect
the Arab country’s territorial integrity as a positive move.
“This
[issue] that the Turkish government has decided to observe good
neighborliness with Iraq and respect Iraq’s territorial integrity is a
positive step,” Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to Leader of the
Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international
affairs, said on Saturday.
“We welcome any kind of friendship among regional countries … we do not welcome any tension between Turkey and Iraq,” he added.
After
a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Baghdad on
Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said his administration
has reached an agreement with Turkey over Baghdad’s demand for the
withdrawal of Turkish military forces from a camp in the north of the
Arab country.
"The prime minister and the delegation accompanying
him confirmed that this issue will be solved in a satisfactory manner
soon," Abadi said.
Iraq’s state TV, which aired Abadi’s
announcement, did not provide further details about the agreement over
Turkey’s military presence in the Iraqi town of Bashiqa.
Turkey
deployed about 500 troops to the facility last year, saying it was wary
of potential attacks by the Daesh Takfiri terrorists that are currently
based in the Iraqi city of Mosul, near Bashiqa.
Iraq has
repeatedly called on Turkey to withdraw its forces or risk a potential
confrontation with the Iraqi military, which is currently battling Daesh
in Mosul. Baghdad has also refused Ankara’s call for involvement in the
operation to liberate Mosul.
The Iranian official further stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation among countries in the Middle East region.
“The
regional nations’ prosperity hinges on regional cooperation and
prevention of any tension among neighbors,” Velayati pointed out.
He
said regional countries should not interfere in the domestic affairs of
each others, voicing Iran’s opposition to any meddling in the internal
affairs of states.
The Leader’s aide said neither Turkey nor Syria would benefit from the existing tension between the two countries.
He
emphasized that stability in Turkey-Syria relations depends on the
recognition of equal rights, mutual respect and non-interference in each
other’s internal affairs.
Turkey’s controversial deployment of
troops to northern Iraq comes as Ankara continues with its military
activities in neighboring Syria.
The Turkish operation, which
began in August 2016, has faced similar criticism from the Syrian
government. Turkey says it will continue the push which it says is meant
to uproot Daesh and Kurdish militants.